Screwed,"The Undeclared War Against the Middle Class,and what
we can do about it", by Thom Hartmann,

Listen Liberal, "What Ever Happened to the Party of the
People?", by Thomas Frank, "Liberals like to believe that
if only Democrats can continue to dominate national elections, if only those awful
Republicans are beaten into submission, then the country will be on the right track.

Unfortunately this view fundamenrally misunderstands the modern Democratic party
...."

Pay any Price, Greed, Power, And Endless War", by
James Risen. "Ever since 9/11 America has fought an endless war on terror, seeking
enemies everywhere and never promising peace. In "Pay Any Price", James Risen
reveals an extraordinary litany of the hidden costs of that war: from squandered and
stolen dollars to outrageous abuses of power to an attack on normalcy, decency and truth.
In the name of fighting terrorism, our government has done things every bit as shameful as
its historic wartime abuses --- and until this book, it has worked very hard to cover them
up...."

End This Depression Now, by Paul Krugman (winner of Nobel Prize
in Economics)Krugman lays out in layman's language the cause of the current depression,
and more importantly his case for solving it in a short time.Basically he makes the case
for Keynesian govenment expenditure to put people to work and kick-start demand.
Fundamental; and simplistic,but nonetheless monumental.A must read.

With Libery and Justice for Some: How the Law is Used to Destroy Equality
and Protect the Powerful, by Glenn Greenwald (published 10/25/2011)(as book and DVD
lecture)

Overview(Barnes and Noble):From "the most important
voice to have entered the political discourse in years" (Bill Moyers), a scathing
critique of the two-tiered system of justice that has emerged in Ammerica.

From the nation's beginnings,the law was to be the great equalizer in American life,
the guarantor of a common set of rules for all. But over the past four decades, the
principle of equality before the law has been effectively abolished. Instead, a two-tiered
system of justice ensures that the country's pokitical and financial class is virtually
immune to prosecution, licensed to act without restraint, while the politically powerless
are imprisoned with greater ease and in greater numbers than in any other country in the
world.

Starting with Watergate, continuuing on through the Iran-Contra scandal, and
culminating with Obama's shielding of Bush-era officials from prosecution, Glenn Greenwald
lays bare the mechanisms that have come to shield the elite from accountability. He shows
how the media, both political parties, and the courts have abetted a process that has
produced torture, war crimes, domestic spying, and financial fraud.

Cogent, sharp, and urgent, this is a no-holds-barred indictment of a profundly
un-American system that sanctions immunity at the top and mercilessness for everyone else.

Web of Debt;The Shocking Truth About Our Money
Systen, and How We Can Break Free, by Ellen Hodgson Brown

Amazon Reviews:

Editorial Reviews
Review
It's frankly difficult to find a good book that will help a person become literate about
our modern money supply. Most that are accurate are hopelessly dense and written for
graduate students in economics....Ellen Brown has translated a dense subject into a
readable and fascinating story....Web of Debt by Ellen Brown not only demystifies money,
but provides some thought-provoking and realistc solutions to our nation's dangerous
dependence on a for-profit banking system that is sucking the financial lifeblood out of
our nation....Buy it, read it, and get active! --Thom Hartmann's Review of the Month for
Buzzflash, April 2009

Most people need backing of some sort to break through and capture a share of the public
mind, but Ms. Brown has seemingly accomplished this all by herself, without funding of any
kind. It almost defies comprehension. If we wore a thousand hats, they would all be doffed
in respect to Ms. Brown's courageous and apparently independent intellectual journey. We
are impressed enough with Ms. Brown's approach to award her a title all her own, in fact.
There are in our opinion, in modern economic thought, now Keynesians, Austrians and
Brownians. --The Daily Bell, October 8, 2009

Ms. Brown has taken two subjects considered boring - history and monetary policy - and
turned them into a book as thrilling as any Tom Clancy novel, except that this book is
true....If you are looking to have an understanding of the monetary mess we are in, this
is an excellent historical overview with some truly elegant and ingenious ideas about
correcting the problems we presently face. As you read this book you may find yourself
feeling like "Neo" in The Matrix, newly awakened from the slumber of ignorance
and deceit. Best of all, she offers viable solutions to the problems that have plagued our
planet for millennia. This may well be one of the most important books you will ever read.
--American Free Press, April 21, 2008

If there is one book, one newspaper, one blog, one article, that one should read to
understand the current economic crisis, to understand the root of the problem, and to
understand its solution, it is "The Web of Debt: The Shocking Truth About Our Money
System and How We Can Break Free".... "Web of Debt" is an extremely
enlightening and remarkable book, providing an understanding to our world and the current
economic crisis and providing monetary and banking solutions that will take us out of this
crisis and benefit the people... The book is an absolute must read and relevant to people
of all political stripes. The only idealogy presented is one of fairness, integrity, and
common sense. --Online Journal, March 2, 2009
Product Description
EXPLODING THE MYTHS ABOUT MONEY Our money system is not what we have been led to believe.
The creation of money has been "privatized," or taken over by a private money
cartel. Except for coins, all of our money is now created as loans advanced by private
banking institutions -- including the private Federal Reserve. Banks create the principal
but not the interest to service their loans. To find the interest, new loans must
continually be taken out, expanding the money supply, inflating prices -- and robbing you
of the value of your money. Web of Debt unravels the deception and presents a crystal
clear picture of the financial abyss towards which we are heading. Then it explores a
workable alternative, one that was tested in colonial America and is grounded in the best
of American economic thought, including the writings of Benjamin Franklin, Thomas
Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln. If you care about financial security, your own or the
nation's, you should read this book.

............................Othe BDS recommendation(s)............

If you prefer a DVD of the same topic(s) see Bill Still directed "The Secret of
Oz"(1.5 hours) or the 3.5 hour version "The Money Masters"

One Country, A Bold Proposal to End the Israeli-Palestinian Impasse,
by Ali Abunimah (2006)

When and How Was the Jewish People Invented, by Shlomo Sand
of Tel Aviv university history professor; 2008 best seller in Israel and Europe;original
in Hebrew and translated into French;English version to be released in fall 2009 by Verso
publishing;translations into a dozen languages underway; Main point: modern Israeli Jewish
population does not have historical roots in what is modern Israel.They are mostly
descendents of converts to the Jewish religion from other European and North African
/Mediterranean regions... The ancient Jewish peoples of the Israel region were not forced
to emigrate by the Romans. The concept of a Jewish people forced to emigrate from their
historical lands and coming "home" to establish modern Israel is totally false.
The current Palestinians are the descendants of historical Jews that converted to Islam.
Israel is therefore the product of racial imperialism and ethnic cleansing.

The Dark Side: The Inside Story of How The War On Terror
Turned Into A War On American Ideals, by Jane Mayer

Web of Deceit,, the History of Western Complicity in Iraq, from Churchill
to Kennedy to George W. Bush, by Barry M Lando. This book chronologizes
Iraq from its pre-nation status in 1914 to present. It is a history replete with internal
conflicts, mass atrocities, murder, coups, and manipulation /subjugation by foreign powers
wanting to control its oil resources, primarily first the UK,and then/now the US. The
current Saddam era involving US support has the US supporting and/or refusing to
acknowledge Saddam atrocities , and then misusing UN sanctions in an attempt to depose
him. The sanctions resulted in food deprivation and untreated disease directly resulting
in the deaths of over 500,000 children and over a million total Iraqis. The latest war has
resulted in over 500,000 additional deaths.In summary the US and UK are responsible for
many more Iraqi deaths than Saddam ever was. It's a maddening chronology and I believe
Bush and Blair should have been hanged alongside Saddam. The deceit spans several US
presidents and the lying and deception of the US people is hard to believe.

Palestine,Peace Not Apartheid, by Jimmy Carter. Courageous
recognition by top USA politician that Israeli theft of Palestinian lands and zionist
ethnic cleansing goals,are the main roadblocks to peace movements in the Mideast. Bound to
be a revelation to most of the American Christian right.

The Case Against Israel: by Michael Neumann; "Michael
Neumann argues a brillant case against the legitimacy of Zionism,whose essence has been
the pursuit of Jewish domination over Palestine" argues Kathy Christison,former CIA
analyst.... Israel is a criminal country and the US is an accessory to its crimes--Bill
Rowe.

Hegemony or Survival: America's Quest for Global Dominance; 2003
by Noam Chomsky, [the book recommended by Venezuela's president Hugo Chavez in his 2006 UN
speech where he called Bush the devil -- {my view is he gave too much credit to just the
latest "white collar war criminal"}];whereas the following 2 books establish
that the latest US foreign policy is nothing new,this book focuses history directly on
current US infamy. I agree with Chavez,if you have time only to read one book on US
foreign policy,read this one. (entered Oct 2006)

Overthrow: America's Century of Regime Change From Hawaii to Iraq
; by Stephen Kinzer,2006 ; This book should closely follow Howard Zinn's below to further
your awakening.

The Most Important Book I Ever read;Exposing the Fairytale: Howard
Zinn's "A Peoples History of the United States;1492-Present",2003

(This book should be required history reading in our schools. If you do
not accept this book you will become the fodder of today's and tomorrow's repeating
history---Vietnam and Iraq are examples and nothing new ....what is new, is that perhaps a
critical proportion of people might actually become aware of the situation and effect a
change.... my opinion/Bill Rowe) .... Zinn:All Governments
Lie

Amazon.com
Consistently lauded for its lively, readable prose, this revised and updated edition of A
People's History of the United States turns traditional textbook history on its head.
Howard Zinn infuses the often-submerged voices of blacks, women, American Indians, war
resisters, and poor laborers of all nationalities into this thorough narrative that spans
American history from Christopher Columbus's arrival to an afterword on the Clinton
presidency.
Addressing his trademark reversals of perspective, Zinn--a teacher, historian, and social
activist for more than 20 years--explains, "My point is not that we must, in telling
history, accuse, judge, condemn Columbus in absentia. It is too late for that; it would be
a useless scholarly exercise in morality. But the easy acceptance of atrocities as a
deplorable but necessary price to pay for progress (Hiroshima and Vietnam, to save Western
civilization; Kronstadt and Hungary, to save socialism; nuclear proliferation, to save us
all)--that is still with us. One reason these atrocities are still with us is that we have
learned to bury them in a mass of other facts, as radioactive wastes are buried in
containers in the earth."

If your last experience of American history was brought to you by junior high school
textbooks--or even if you're a specialist--get ready for the other side of stories you may
not even have heard. With its vivid descriptions of rarely noted events, A People's
History of the United States is required reading for anyone who wants to take a fresh look
at the rich, rocky history of America. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

"Dimes Worth of Difference; Beyond the Lesser of Two
Evils", 2004, Alexander Cockburn,Jeffrey St. Clair ; There is really
little difference between Democrats and Republicans (especially as regards foreign policy)
so do not expect any significant changes within the two-party monopoly. This book uses
specific examples to make this point very explicit.

Confessions of an Economic Hit Man by John Perkins:

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
John Perkins started and stopped writing Confessions of an Economic Hit Man four times
over 20 years. He says he was threatened and bribed in an effort to kill the project, but
after 9/11 he finally decided to go through with this expose of his former professional
life. Perkins, a former chief economist at Boston strategic-consulting firm Chas. T. Main,
says he was an "economic hit man" for 10 years, helping U.S. intelligence
agencies and multinationals cajole and blackmail foreign leaders into serving U.S. foreign
policy and awarding lucrative contracts to American business. "Economic hit men
(EHMs) are highly paid professionals who cheat countries around the globe out of trillions
of dollars," Perkins writes. Confessions of an Economic Hit Man is an extraordinary
and gripping tale of intrigue and dark machinations. Think John Le Carré, except it's a
true story.
Perkins writes that his economic projections cooked the books Enron-style to convince
foreign governments to accept billions of dollars of loans from the World Bank and other
institutions to build dams, airports, electric grids, and other infrastructure he knew
they couldn't afford. The loans were given on condition that construction and engineering
contracts went to U.S. companies. Often, the money would simply be transferred from one
bank account in Washington, D.C., to another one in New York or San Francisco. The deals
were smoothed over with bribes for foreign officials, but it was the taxpayers in the
foreign countries who had to pay back the loans. When their governments couldn't do so, as
was often the case, the U.S. or its henchmen at the World Bank or International Monetary
Fund would step in and essentially place the country in trusteeship, dictating everything
from its spending budget to security agreements and even its United Nations votes. It was,
Perkins writes, a clever way for the U.S. to expand its "empire" at the expense
of Third World citizens. While at times he seems a little overly focused on conspiracies,
perhaps that's not surprising considering the life he's led. --Alex Roslin

BDS view: A very important insight to how the seemingly innocuous pursuit of
development has contributed to the increase of world poverty and hatred of American
corporations and government. The intrigue and James Bond-like narrative is captivating
because I constantly found myself questioning the believability ,yet being flabbergasted
by the undeniable history of events,CIA involvement,murders,assassinations, and in the
end, the rational explanations given for much of the current world problems. I recommend
it.

From The Washington Post's Book World/washingtonpost.com
Evangelical Christians in this country are familiar with the jeremiad, a sermon rousing
the devout to renewed effort by highlighting how far they have wandered from the true and
only faith. These days, jeremiads invariably attribute the abysmal crisis in which America
allegedly finds itself to liberals and secular humanists. Teenage pregnancy, abortion,
drug addiction, homosexuality -- these, we are told, are indications of our fallen state,
the product of our mistaken belief that we can get by without the teachings of a just God.
Jimmy Carter's natural affinity is with the jeremiad. But Our Endangered Values, the
prolific ex-president's latest book, finds fault not with secular humanists but with
Christians, particularly those of the fundamentalist persuasion. Huge gaps between rich
and poor, disrespect for human rights, cruel and unusual treatment of prisoners, a
despoiled environment and a dangerous foreign policy -- these, for him, are the true
indications of how far we have fallen. We used to believe that America stood as a moral
beacon to the world. Because of the influence wielded by fundamentalists over our
policies, Carter argues, we no longer can.

Carter offers an unusual combination: a man of faith and a man of power. His presidency
was marked both by his prophetic witness on behalf of humane values and by his often
incomprehensible amateurism in campaigning and governing. No wonder, then, that the best
parts of Our Endangered Values deal with his private faith and the worst with his analysis
of public policy.

To understand Carter's beliefs, it is important to know something about America's largest
Protestant denomination, the Baptists. Baptists have long insisted on the separation of
church and state, distrusted religious hierarchies and respected the autonomy of local
congregations. The 2000 "Baptist Faith and Message" statement, according to
Carter, changed all that; with it, the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) created a church
that would directly involve itself in politics, made half its members (the female half)
subservient and, in Carter's devastating words, brought about the "substitution of
Southern Baptist leaders for Jesus as the interpreters of biblical Scripture." Carter
may have left the SBC in protest, but he, far more than the ostensible leaders of the
denomination, represents the true spirit of Baptist religious liberty.

As president, Carter prayed, and prayed often -- not to ask divine blessing for actions he
was about to take but because any action he took would have consequences unknown to him or
any other human being. His personal convictions led him to oppose both abortion and the
death penalty, but his political duty commanded obedience to the decisions of the Supreme
Court. Fundamentalism, Carter writes, has three attributes: "rigidity, domination,
and exclusion." As a president and as a Christian, Carter avoided all three.

Now that many of the Christian fundamentalists with whom Carter so strongly disagrees find
themselves being courted by the White House (even if their advice is frequently ignored),
Carter's criticism of their understanding of religion in politics is as welcome as it is
refreshing. Still, there are times when the Jesus talk gets laid on a bit too thick. It is
true that fundamentalist Christians have retrograde views about women, but to write in
response that "Jesus Christ was the greatest liberator of women" downplays the
role that Christianity played for centuries in assigning women to second-class status. Nor
is it always an effective tactic to criticize biblical literalists by citing the Bible
against them, as Carter does on behalf of the poor; after all, the Bible so frequently
contradicts itself.

Sometimes, in other words, you need a nonreligious argument to confront the theocrats
among us. Carter is perfectly aware of this, and when he turns to questions involving the
environment or counterterrorism, his wonkish side comes to the fore. Alas, Carter's voice
without prophetic urgency is more obligatory than compelling. It is true that nuclear
proliferation is a great danger and that the United States is well-served by a strong
United Nations, but Carter's breathless rush through the damage wrecked by foreign policy
unilateralism offers little that is new and much that is labored.

His deep religious convictions ought especially to inform his policy discussions on the
subject of torture of detainees held abroad. Yet here his prose, too vague to be analytic,
is also too detached to be prophetic. Prophecy demands holding people who do bad things
responsible for their actions. Yet while Carter clearly does not like what Republicans are
doing, President George W. Bush does not appear in his book. Neoconservatives do: Sen.
Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) is mentioned a couple of times, and Pat Robertson gets his share of
attention. Probably out of respect for the office he once held, Carter is reluctant to
point the finger of blame at the man who holds it now. One can admire him for his
restraint even while lamenting the dispassion that results.

Fundamentalism has gotten America into a mess, but religion can once again help the
country finds its soul. The Republican version of Jimmy Carter, former Missouri senator
John Danforth, started an important national discussion when he criticized right-wing
extremists in his party for their certainty that God was on their side. By adding his own
voice to the discussion, Carter reminds us of a time when religion was tied to such
virtues as humility and to such practices as soul-searching. He may not have been one of
our best presidents, but he is undoubtedly one of our finest human beings.

BDS view: Most views and thoughts are right on; but unless an evangelical forget almost
half the initial book devoted to the biblical crap presented as basis for his views.

The Politics of Anti-Semitism, edited by Alexander Cockburn and
Jeffrey St. Clair; (a collection of essays).

BDS Summary: Powerful
pro-Israeli groups would have you believe that anti-semitism and being against Israeli
policies are one and the same thing. They certainly are not.Also Israeli policies and
interests are not always legal,moral, or right and certainly do not always coincide with
US interests as those groups would have you believe. Many examples of this distortion and
how they have and do impact the US Congress and foreign policy are covered. Example: I did
not know that Israel purposely sunk a US warship during their 1967 war and the US
Government continues to downplay and tried to coverup the incident!

Iraq Confidential; The Untold Story of the Intelligence Conspiracy to
Undermine the UN and Overthrow Saddam Hussein

by Scott Ritter, a lead UN WMD weapons inspector in IRAQ

BDS Summary of Ritter : US policy was always the removal of Saddam Hussein (regime
change) after war to "liberate" Kuwait. Onerous economic santions and the WMD
disarmanent were tactics to extend the war for regime change.The CIA acted to prevent the
UN weapons inspectors (UNSCOM) from ever declaring the correct conclusion that IRAQ had
disarmed,because that would have led to UN lifting of economic sanctions and undermining
regime change. During this time the CIA also failed in a coup attempt. CIA intelligence on
the actual state of IRAQ WMD was reasonably good but misrepresented by the Bush
administration to Congress, UN, US public to garner support for a war of regime change in
IRAQ. The much ballyhooed Congessional report(s) on failures of US intelligence leading up
to the war is just a self-serving convenient way of whitewashing this fiasco to US public.
At the same time the CIA is also rewriting its internal history justifying its performance
as not that bad. So there is no accountability at all for leading us into the IRAQ war.

BDS Conclusions: The US administration unilaterally decided that a regime change in
IRAQ was "worth it". It was worth violating International law. It was worth
implementing onerous economic sanctions that some estimate killed a million Iraqi
civilians.It was worth perverting the truth to Congress and US citizens to start an
immoral and unnecessary war; it was worth (so far) the deaths of about 2000 US servicemen,
over 10,000 wounded, an additional tens of thousands of deaths of Iraqi civilians; $300
billion, fueling a new hotbed of anti-American terrorism to replace Afghanistan, and the
destruction of the Iraq country.....It was not the US decision to make!

War Made Easy : How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death
by Norman Solomon
Editorial Reviews

Review
"Norman Solomon is one of the bravest and best American journalists, especially when
he is dissecting the topics of war and the media. War Made Easy exposes and explains the
lies and deceptions that have misled our nation into vile and bloody disasters from
Vietnam to El Salvador to Iraq; it reveals the frequent cowardice and culpability of the
US media that often behaves as a propaganda arm of the Pentagon. War Made Easy is a
sobering and essential book that Americans should read, share, and discuss."
John Stauber, co-author of Weapons of Mass Deception and Banana Republicans

Gwynne Dyer, Future Tense: The
Coming World Order;

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap
The foundations of World War III are being laid today.

American defeat in Iraq is only a matter of time, but how long it takes matters a lot. The
fate of Iraq is a sideshow, the terrorist threat is a red herring, and the radical
Islamists' dream of a worldwide jihad against the West is a fantasy, but the attempt to
revive Pax Americana is real. No matter what the outcome of the election in November,
2004, the enterprise is likely to continue. It is bound to fail eventually, but we need it
to fail soon.

American military power is not limitless, and the other big powers will not stand for US
military domination of the world. They don't buy the cover story about the 'terrorist
threat,' but they don't want a fight either. They are all on hold for the moment, hoping
that America will remember its commitment to the United Nations, the rule of law and
multilateralism. If it does not, then the drift back into alliances, balance-of-power
politics and military confrontations will begin. Ten years from now, an American-led
alliance that includes India and occupies much of the Middle East could be facing a
European alliance led by France, Germany and Russia AND a hostile, heavily armed China.

In Future Tense, Gwynne Dyer's brilliant follow up to last year's bestselling Ignorant
Armies, he analyzes how the world made its way to the brink of disaster, and describes how
we may all slide over the edge. It was fringe groups of extremists - Islamist fanatics and
American neo-conservatives - who set the process in motion, but it has gone well beyond
that now. It is not too late, but the clock is running.

Graydon Carter: What We've Lost: How the Bush Administration Has
Curtailed Our Freedoms, Mortgaged Our Economy, Ravaged Our Environment, and Damaged Our
Standing in the World

FROM THE PUBLISHER
What We've Lost addresses the state of U.S. democracy with a critical review of the Bush
administration by one of our leading magazine editors, Graydon Carter. Carter has
expressed his deep dissatisfaction with the current state of the nation in his monthly
editor's letters in Vanity Fair - which have aroused widespread comment - and now provides
a sweeping, painstakingly detailed account of the ruinous effects of this White House.

Running on Empty: How the Democratic and Republican Parties Are
Bankrupting Our Future and What Americans Can Do about It , by Peter G
Peterson

From the Publisher
When George W. Bush came into office in 2001, the ten-year budget balance was officially
projected to be at a surplus of $5.6 trillion. But after three big tax cuts, the bursting
of the stock-market bubble, and the devastating effects of 9/11 on the economy, the
surplus has evaporated, and the deficit is expected to grow to $5 trillion over the next
decade. America was once the greatest creditor to nations around the globe; it is now the
largest debtor in the world. And the domestic deficit is only half the story. Given our
$500 billion trade deficit and our anemic savings rate, we depend on an unprecedented $2
billion of foreign capital every working day. If foreign confidence were to wane, this
could lead to a dreaded hard landing.
President Bush says that the deficit is just "numbers on paper." Vice President
Cheney claims that Reagan proved "deficits don't matter." Peter G. Peterson -- a
lifelong Republican, chairman of The Blackstone Group, and former secretary of commerce
under Nixon -- shatters the myths with hard facts and a harrowing view of the twin
deficits' real impact. Republicans and Democrats alike have mortgaged America's future
through reckless tax cuts, out-of-control spending, and Enron-style accounting in
Congress. And the situation will only get worse as the Baby Boom generation begins to
retire, making unprecedented demands on entitlement programs such as Social Security and
Medicare. Despite what Bush says, we are on a path that could end in economic meltdown,
and we simply cannot grow out of the deficit. In Running on Empty, Peterson takes us
behind the politicians' smoke-and-mirror games, and forcefully explains what we must do to
rescue the future of our country.

From the Publisher
In the months and years following September 11th, Senator Robert C. Byrd viewed with
dismay what he considers a "slow unraveling of the people's liberties," a time
when dissenting voices were stilled and awesome power swung suddenly to the president to
fight a "war on terror." The way down this path violates historic American
principles. It provides no regard for the balance of powers or the role of Congress; it
invades our privacy; it makes no attempt to educate the public and build consensus. It
displays little regard for our environment. It grapples little with the realities of
people who have to work for a living, rear children or care for aging parents, and cope
with physical ailments -- problems that plague our country and cry out for attention.
Swept along, we have entered a war under a new and dangerous doctrine without proper
consideration, and we have rushed dangerous legislation through Congress willy-nilly. We
have a White House that favors the rich and the well-connected, lavishes tax cuts on big
businesses, and pushes through unfair tax legislation.
Most serious, this administration has, in greater measure than ever before, operated under
a cloak of secrecy, which is deeply antithetical to the principles of our nation. For far
too long, argues Senator Byrd, too many of us have passively gone along, aiding and
abetting a dangerous process. Now is the time, he urges, to regain the Constitution that
our fore-fathers so wisely left us, a time to return to the values and principles that
made America great. Losing America is a ringing call to action by one of the country's
longest-serving and most respected legislators, one who does not shrink from warning the
people of the sinister agenda of a power-seeking White House.

Amazon.com
The war on terror has created near unanimity on many points, at least within the American
press and political leadership. One essential point of agreement: al Qaeda specifically
and radical Islamism in general are stirred by a hatred of modernity. Or as President
George W. Bush has articulated repeatedly, they hate freedom. Nonsense, responds the
nameless author of this work and 2003's Through Our Enemies' Eyes (the senior U.S.
intelligence official's identity became an open secret by publication date). Indeed, he
grimly and methodically discards common wisdom throughout this scathing and compelling
take on counterterrorism. Imperial Hubris is not a book that will cheer Americans,
regardless of their perspectives on the post-9/11 environment. We are, the author notes,
losing the war on terror. Hawks will squirm as the author heaps contempt on U.S. missions
in Afghanistan (too little, too late) and Iraq ("a sham causing more instability than
it prevents"), but opponents of Bush administration policies may blanch at Anonymous'
suggestion that what's needed is for the West to "proceed with relentless, brutal,
and, yes, blood-soaked offensive military actions until we have annihilated the Islamists
who threaten us." Quoting the at-all-cost likes of William Tecumseh Sherman and
Curtis Lemay on one hand and contending that unrelenting military measures be accompanied
by concessions to the ideology of the militants on the other are unlikely to curry
widespread support from either side of the divide. And how will readers conditioned to
references to Osama bin Laden as a deranged gangster or simple-minded fanatic with deep
pockets digest the respect accorded "the most popular anti-American leader in the
world today"? Imperial Hubris clearly wasn't written to win friends, though the
author believes it's essential that his words influence people at the top. Whether it will
is debatable, but that this blunt, forceful, urgently argued polemic recharges the
discussion is a foregone conclusion. --Steven Stolder

Product Description:
Though U.S. leaders try to convince the world of their success in fighting al Qaeda, one
anonymous member of the U.S. intelligence community would like to inform the public that
we are, in fact, losing the war on terror. Further, until U.S. leaders recognize the
errant path they have irresponsibly chosen, he says, our enemies will only grow stronger.
According to the author, the greatest danger for Americans confronting the Islamist threat
is to believeat the urging of U.S. leadersthat Muslims attack us for what we
are and what we think rather than for what we do. Blustering political rhetoric
"informs" the public that the Islamists are offended by the Western worlds
democratic freedoms, civil liberties, inter-mingling of genders, and separation of church
and state. However, although aspects of the modern world may offend conservative Muslims,
no Islamist leader has fomented jihad to destroy participatory democracy, for example, the
national association of credit unions, or coed universities.

Instead, a growing segment of the Islamic world strenuously disapproves of specific U.S.
policies and their attendant military, political, and economic implications. Capitalizing
on growing anti-U.S. animosity, Osama bin Ladens genius lies not simply in calling
for jihad, but in articulating a consistent and convincing case that Islam is under attack
by America. Al Qaedas public statements condemn Americas protection of corrupt
Muslim regimes, unqualified support for Israel, the occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan,
and a further litany of real-world grievances. Bin Ladens supporters thus identify
their problem and believe their solution lies in war. Anonymous contends they will go to
any length, not to destroy our secular, democratic way of life, but to deter what they
view as specific attacks on their lands, their communities, and their religion. Unless
U.S. leaders recognize this fact and adjust their policies abroad accordingly, even
moderate Muslims will join the bin Laden camp.

Richard A. Clarke: "Against All Enemies: Inside America's War on
Terror"; Former Bush administration czar on terrorism (also under
several priior administrations) blows the whistle on Bush's lack of attention to
anti-terrorism prior to 911; his administration's fixation with going to war to remove
Saddam Hussein from the start of his inauguration; and the use of known misinformation and
innuendo to "sell" the American public that Iraq shared responsibility for 911
to lead the nation into a unnecessary war of choice.March 2004.

John W Dean: "Worse Than Watergate: The Secret Presidency of George
W. Bush", by John W Dean; former Watergate conspirator and
whistleblower under Nixon, relates his expert opinion drawing on his insider knowledge of
the manner in which presidencies function, that Bush committed impeachable high treason
for the manner in which he has mislead the nation into an unnecessary war... April 2004.

Ron Suskind: "The Price of Loyalty; George W Bush,the White House,and
the Education of Paul O'Neill", the lucid narrative of the Bush
administration's former Secretary of Treasury (O'Neill) on the closed inner circle
that myopically promotes fiscally irresponsible policies, and spun a fixation on Saddham
Hussein into the Iraq war.

George Soros:(2004) "The Bubble of American Supremacy; Correcting the
Misuse of American Power" ....One of the world's wealthiest men steps up and
spends millions of his own money to defeat the Republican/Bush frontal assault on the
American soul. Take heart that all wealthy people are not fascist bastards.We might yet
save ourselves.A down to earth book for any honest thinking American .

Norman Mailer:(2003) "Why Are We at War?",
"...I think the natural government for most people,given the uglier depths of human
nature,is fascism.Fascism is more of a natural state than democracy. To assume blithely
that we can export democracy into any country we choose can serve paradoxically to
encourage more fascism at home and abroad...." (I agree with a lot he says about
Bushism but little about his views on reincarnation,globalization,and anti-modernism) ---a
short read

Clyde Prestowitz--(2003)"Rogue Nation--American
Unilateralism and the Failure of Good Intentions", a conservatives
skepticism of using American hegemony(empire) to spread/force the American way throughout
the world --- an insight/education into the thoughts of an enlightened conservative
that I am forcing myself to read

Rogue
States,an essay by Noam Chomsky one of America's most prominent
political dissidents.

_________________________

My (Bill Rowe)(July 2003) thoughts,some of which coincide with the above authors....

WMD or not; Bushites are Good Intentioned, Dangerous
Fascists

For me the WMD issue is already clear. Even if some small amounts of WMD (or a small rogue
development group is found --- who knows what stink goes unknown in the huge US defense
establishment so why should Iraq be any different---), it's obvious that it would be dumb
luck or planted, and surely not the massive world threatening situation sold as the basis
for invading another sovereign country outside a UN mandate. They lied to us and the
world; they believed it was for a good cause (overthrowing Saddham) and that we /history
would forget/forgive because of the hoped for ultimate good to be achieved (democracy for
Iraqis and a fuel pump for the US, and closing the book on an old elder Bush vendetta).
Why is it so hard for most Americans to believe? It's in character. From Watergate,
to Iran Contra, to Enron, to Election 2000 --- a belief that the ultimate result (a
policy) justifies the means to get there--short of ending up in jail for an illegality/or
getting caught in one. Well history proves time and again that nobody (or a party) has a
100% reliable monopolistic vision (or impartiality) as to what would be good policy---and
that's where a solid belief in the cornerstone of democracy comes in--a belief in the
process of decision making being more reliable/appropriate than one's own favorite policy
of the day. Republicans repeatedly fall into the trap and (sorry to say) more Democrats
lately as well. The bottomline is that so-called ultrapatriots, who disparage the very
confrontational nature of democracy, belie their own lack of faith in the same---the
integrity of the democratic process is everything. When you prostitute the process to
pander your own vision of the way things should be, and you look in a mirror you might see
a fascist. Many in the Bush administration should be checking the mirrors these
days....

____________________ works toward understandang the historical stage
(below)_____
Herman,Edward S:(1982) "The Real Terror Network :Terrorism in Fact and
Propaganda",ISBN 0-89608-13i-6,South End Press ....makes the case that US backed
terrorist states kill(ed) massively more innocents under the "radar" of the
western press than all the non-state (termed "retail") terrorists typically
covered in western media...eye opening

Kwitny,Jonathan: (1987) "The Crimes of Patriots"...."A True
Tale of Dope, Dirty Money, and the CIA", ISBN 0-671-66637-1,Touchstone books.... the
stink is almost unbearable...not in my name

Chomsky,Noam : "The Culture of Terrorism", South End Press,
1988, ISBN0-89608-334-9, USA as a major terrorist state

Chomsky,Noam :"Fateful Triangle: The United States, Israel, & The
Palestinians", South End Press, 1999 Rev, ISBN 0-89608-601-1.... every year billions
of US taxpayer money goes to support Israel as the epitome of the terorist state ..... the
grandaddy of all foreign policy hypocricy

Yergin,Daniel.(Pulitzer Prize Winner), "The Prize: The Epic Quest for
Oil, Money, and Power",Dec 1992, ISBN 0671799320 ...from the first oil well to the
development of international oil conglomerates, wars, politics,foreign policy, nation
building and destruction, making dictatorships in the Mideast that are the background for
todays conflicts, including Iraq ...

Johnson,Paul M,"Modern Times",Aug 2001 Rev,ISBN 0060935502,
"The classic world history of the events, ideas, and personalities of the twentieth
century."

--------(below)my basis of a rational world view; who,what we are and
where we and the cosmos came from; some fact,some speculation,some choice-----

"The Elegant Universe",Brian Greene, "superstrings, hidden
dimensions, and the quest for the ultimate theory"; on the frontiers of theoretical
physics where no scientific agreement or proof exists yet, some very serious science
considers that we might indeed live in a sort-of "star-trekian" universe of 11
dimensions. Explore the consistencies with existing proven science, and interesting
implications, while waiting for some of the smartest scientists alive attempt to discover
the anticipated earth-shattering "so-what" of it all.

"Origins: Fourteen Billion Years of Cosmic Evolution", Neil
DeGrasse and Donald Goldsmith, from the big bang to the formation of
atoms,stars,galaxies,earth,and us; mostly accepted science, and meticulously highlighted
where not; an interesting appetiser: before there was a sun or earth, many generations of
long ago exploded stars made the atoms that comprise the sun,earth,and us by nuclear
fusion; incredibly, astronomers can "see" these processes still underway in the
universe.

"A Devil's Chaplain: Reflections on Hope, Lies, Science,
and Love", Richard Dawkins; If the foundation of your belief system on
who,and what you are, and your "purpose", is inextricably based on religious
precepts, then you will be uncomfortable going here. However, if you are inclined to
choose rational deduction and speculation over unquestioned dogma, then read it.

Atheist Universe: Why God Didn't Have A Thing To Do With It
by David Mills, Simply,all rational people should read it. Very easy and entertaining as
well as informative read.

The God Delusion , Richard Dawkins, 2006 , A
rather exhaustive and somewhat repetive consideration and retort to all rationales for
believing in a supernatural personal god. If you need such a battery of tools, go for it.